Method of making shoes.



R. F. McFEELY. METHOD 0F MAKING SHOES. l APPplcATlon man mm2?, 1910. nsnswen ocr. ze, |914.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

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Original application filed July 29, 1908, Serial No. 445,929. Divided and 1910, Serial No. Renewed llctober hun rare .RONAL 1E'. MClEEIELY, @h BEVERLY,

raars fr raton Massaennsnr'rs, nssreiionlro Unrrnn suon MACHINERY GQMPLNY, 0F PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, .EL CORPOEJTlEQN 0F NEW Qll'ERSEY.

KETHD 0F MAKEN@ methods of making shoes and has for an important object to improve the procedure .followed in fitting au upper to a last. rlEhe invention will be here explained vas applied to the operation of pulling over shoes, this application being la division of my application Serial No. 445,929, filed July 29,1908. ln

the pulling over operation. it is importantto take the stretch out of the upper material while conformingthe upper to the shape of the last. rllhis having been done thoroughly and the upper fastened to the sole all along its edge the shoe will retain its original shape without much change during use. lf, however, the stretch hetalren .out of a portion of the upper and not out of an adjacent portion that is subjected to strain during its use, than the shoe will gradually change its shape as itis worn and besides .acquiring a baggy, un'pleasing appearance will not support the foot as it should do. yWith these requirements and conditions in mind it is an object of this invention to stretch the upper more thoroughly and uniformly than heretofore and in so doing to distribute the upper stock so that change in form of the shoe during wear will be reduced to a minimum. One step comprised in this improved method consists in seizing the forepart of the upper, including the end and the sides of the toe, and it may advantageously be in a substantially continuous line around the toe from one side to the other, and drafting the entire upper forwardly and preferahlv also 'downward along the slope or 1n Cline of the instep on the top of the last.'

Specification of Letters Patent.

rate-atea aan is, reis..

this appIication vledl December 27, 26, 1914, `Serial No. 868,741. I

about the ankle and is well understood that the stretch can be talenout of leather by pulling it longitudinally or by pulling it transverselyand ythat having taken out the one direction and securing it littlev more can be obtained by pulling it in the other direction. While it is possible in making a shoe to stretch the rear and Vmiddle part of the upper transversely or toward the sole while the upper is oh the last and vto fasten it to the sole in this stretched condition the freedom of the top of the shoe in use allows it to draw down and permits the upper to stretch lengthwise as it .is worn and thereby become loose about the ankle, .as l am ad vised it has not heretofore been proposed lto stretch the wise of the shoe in the thorough manner herein contemplated and results such as are produced in this way have not'heretofore been achieved in like degree.

@ne of the difculties encountered in pulling over shoes is that the friction of the upper materials upon the last interferes seriously with the freedom of the upper to stretch when it is pulled upon at its edge and consequently the portions of an upper contiguous to its margin are usually pulled hard and sometimes torn without thoroughly stretching a portion of the upper that is remote from the margin and that is free to give up itsl stretch and become loose when the shoe is put into use. This is particularly noticeable in the forepart of the shoe `which it is desirable to'stretch thoroughly over the ball in a transverse direction so that the yforepart of the foot will be properly confined or braced and prevented' from too about the sides of the last and then finally over the edge into position to be secured.

middle ofthe foot. p it stretch by pulling it 1in full width of the upper lengtlry A shoe so made does not retain superfluous leather or stretch where it will work out in the use'of the shoe and allow substantial departure from the original lines of the shoe.

A very common way to work the upper over the shoe bottom and secure it in lasted position is to wipe it over by the closing and advancing action of end embracing wipers. In practice the advancingaction of these wipers tends to a substantial degree to force the marginal and contiguous portions of the upper backwardly at the ends of the wipers and thus create a fullness at the two sides o f the forepart. I overcome this diiiiculty in myv new method by pulling the upper forwardly at the sides before the action Aof the wipers and, it may be preferably, retaining it under forward tension during the overwiping operation. This counteracts the' tendency of the wipers to produce fullness at their ends.

' There are in use at the present time many f lasts of the varieties that have a high toe and a thin ball measurement-` vWith these lasts special difficulty is experienced in getting the upper drawn down into the hollow in the top face of the last back of the high toe. To shape the upper to this type of last I f ollow the procedure of giving the upper at opposite sides of the toe an eXtra pull upwardly and preferably slightly forwardly in progressive degree from the front backwards to near the tip seam. so doing the upper is drawn to the wood of the last onv the rear incline of the high toe progressively with the maximum tension at the rear end of the incline. This reduces very much the bridging of the upper over the ball from the toe to the instep which .it is so diilicult to draw out in pulling the upper at the sides of the ball, which usually follows the pulling at the toe.

To aid in carrying out this invention l prefer touse grippers of a novel construction elsewhere claimed and which comprise curved sectional jaws turningrabout a center at the'middle of the toe and shaped to embrace the end and sides of the toe. By these grippers l seize the upper and hold it outwardlyl from the sides of the toe while drawing it forwardly and toward the sole to stretch the entire width of 'the'upper lengthwise. l may increase the spread of the portions of the grippers that hold the f ksides of the upper to reduce the'friction on the top of the last while the upper is being' pulled; then after the upper has been well stretched over the top face of the last l allow the sides to approach the last and wrap about it and finally wrap the sides over the edge of the last. y ward tension on the upper at the sides of thc toe and maintain this tension either by the grippers or otherwise during the inward and backward wiping action ofthe toe lastl exert a forv aisance preferably forward pull to the upper at the two sides of the toe to tighten it down the rear incline of a high toe and this I do by raising the heels or rear ends of the long. gripper jaws with relation to their front ends.

The invention will now be described by the aid of thedrawings in which the method is illustrated and the invention will then be more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Figures 1, 2 and 3 are illustrative views of this invention each showing in side elevation and transverse section the toe portion of a shoe in three successive stages of the operation, beginning with the gripping position. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are other Vsuccessive views of the sameportion of the shoe in plan. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a gripper and showing in full and dotted lines for comparison three positions, which I have used advantageously in practising the invention. Fig. 8 is a perspective View of said gripper. Fig. 9 shows a'shoe.

yllhe upper is seized with the sides of .the toe portion in approximately their normal outwardly flared position as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Preferably the upper is seized on substantially ay continuous line along its edge from one sideof the toe around to the other side. The entire width of the upper is then pulled forwardly and upwardly whereby the whole upper is stretched longitudinally and tightened about the rear portion of the last and drawn down the usual slope or incline of the instep portion of the ldist. During this stretching of the upper it is held away from the side faces of the'last asv illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 to reduce thev area of frictional engagement withV the last. In the last part of the pulling movement the sides are carried inwardly toward the last with a `wrapping movement of the stretched upper about the last. Also in the last portion of the pulling movement the upward tension on the upper is increased progressively from the front backwardly and thereby the upper is drawn down to the wood of the last on the rear incline of the high toe portion.

To aid in the practice of this invention I have employed the illustrated grippers which comprise the long curved jaws 2 able pivotally at the end of the toe to allow the sections to spread for holding the upper away from the sides of the toe. Each of the sections has a.\ separate carrier 4: which for this purpose turns on a rod 5, the upper portions of the rods being united to move as one device. Each carriera: has a lateral finger 6 which, when the grippers are lowered to upper Sfng position, seats'itself per first outwardly in a direction lengthwise of the last and upwardly from the op- 'posite sides of the last to straightenit over the top face of the last, and then continuing the'pull upwardly and inwardly to wrap it about the side faces of the last.

3. That improvement in methods of malrl ing .shoes which consists in pulling an upper lengthwisev of the last forwardly and upwardly at the two opposite sides of the fore'part of the last while holding it outwardly from the side faces of the last and then permitting it to approach 4the side faces of the last during a later portion of the pulling movement. That' improvement in methods of makingshoes which -consists in gripping the curved end portion of a shoe upper at the end and opposite sides of the toe of a last, and `relatively, moving the gripped lportions and the last to strain theupperupwardly and longitudinally of the last in a forward direction at the sides and the end of the toe while holding lthe sides of the toe outwardly' away from the sides of the last and thereafter wrapping the upper inwardly over, the edge ofthe last.

5. That improvement in methods of maki ing shoes which consists in gripping the curved end -portion of a shoe upper at the end and opposite sides-of the toe ofa last along'- a substantially continuous gripping line around the toe while the forepart of the upper is free to be pulled and relatively moving the gripped'portions and the last to strain the upper upwardly and longitudinally of the last in a forward direction at the sides and the end of the last.

6. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consists in gripping the curved end portion of a shoe upper at the end andopposite sides of the toeof a last,y

and upwardly, holding the gripped sections of upper at the sides of the toe outwardly 5 from the. edge of the lastduring the first portion of the pulling movement 'and permitting said sections to close inwardly toward the edge of the last during the last portion of the pulling movement.`

' 8. That improvement in methods of malo ing shoes which consists in gripping the margin of an upper at the opposite sides of 9. That improvement in methods of making shoes which consistsin grippinglthe curved end portion of a shoe upper at the end and opposite sides lof the toe of a last, relatively moving the gripped portion and the last to strain the upper upwardly and longitudinally of the last in a forward di'-y rection at the gripped points, and then while maintaining the strain in the Vspecified directions at the end and sides of the shoe working the upper into lasted position over the edge of the fore part of the last.

10. That improvement in methods of malring shoes' which consists in gripping substantially the entire width of the toe portion of an upper, and lengthwise stretching the vamp, includingits lower marginal portion, and the lower portion of the quarters and drawing the .upper down the incline of the instep by pulling the gripped portion forwardly and upwardly relatively to the toe end of an inverted last.

11. That improvement inmethods of making shoes which consists in gripping the toe portion of an upper in a substantially continueus line from one side of the toe around to .the other side of the toe and longitudinally stretching 4the vamp, including its 100 lower marginal portion, and the quarters of the shoe by a forward -and upward pull on the entire gripping line at once and 'then laying the upper under such tension over the last bottom and securing it.`

12. That improvement in methods of making shoes which vconsists in gripping an upper at the ends and sides of the toe and holding it away from the side faces of the toe portion of the last, pulling the entire upper 110 forwardly and upwardly to take the stretch from the upper lengthwise of the shoe while the gripped portions are so held, and then wrapping the upper about the side faces of the last and over its edge.

13. That improvement in methods of malrving shoes which consists in gripping substantially the entire width of the toe portion of an upper, and `lengthwise stretching the upper so gripped, including the lower portion of the vamp, and then correcting ad-v justment of the upper by relatively shifting transversely of the shoe the last and the upper so gripped and held under tension, whereby the stretched portion of the vamp along one side of the shoe is further tightened forwardly along the'last edge and that on the other side is slightly're-laxed while the lace opening is' shifted transversely of the shoe.

memes toe backwardiy during the last portion of i0 the pulling movement.

In fsestimony whereof have signefl my name to. this specification in ihe presence of two subscribing witnessesu RONALU F. l ELK VVitnes on L; Rossem 1 1 miniemen (e. Cow E. 

